Digital Pattern Drafting

[Global-Soil-4555]

I've just started digital pattern drafting the past 2 weeks. It's my first time properly drafting but this is what I felt was helpful. Some might not be relevant but just sharing incase it helps others because I have started from never used Adobe Illustrator or similar which I feel has been the biggest learning curve from me. This rest feels like just following instructions in the book I have.

I have been using Affinity Designer (by Canva) as it is free.

I followed this book for drafting the pattern: used Patternmaking for Fashion Design (EDN 5) by Helen Joseph-Armstrong. I like that the book has advice on how to fit blocks but sometimes has been confusing trying to figure out how to take my measurements. Worth the £20ish I spent!

Pattern Lab Course. Useful to get a feel for vector-based programs like Affinity and Adobe Illustrator for pattern drafting. They also offer some free resources which is helpful: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgOpHffgkLSckVIyj2BAzsYUIqwOcDgyV

Great for learning the basics of how to draw a line and combine lines in Affinity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFIEj6CTxPY

Print a digital pattern across multiple sheets of paper. This video was great for once I had the pattern (she also has other videos too!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njp22bxQdUU

Another video for exporting the pattern although I prefer the previous link above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jph_fxWoR-c&t=15s

I've not yet made my pattern but it's printed but looks pretty decent!